‘They are lying to you’: Watch as millions of Russian jaws drop after woman interrupts live news broadcast in Moscow
There was outrage, confusion and disbelief across Russia last night as a woman interrupted the main news program on state broadcaster Channel One with an anti-war banner.
Tens of millions of ordinary Russians who had tuned in for the daily news broadcast saw how a woman appeared on their screens with a sign that said “Stop the war. Don’t believe them. They are lying to you’
She interrupted the broadcast while presenter Ekaterina Andreeva was speaking about foreign sanctions against Russians.
She repeated several times “Stop the war! No war! ” after which producers quickly cut to other images and the woman was reportedly detained.
Within seconds, the news program cut away to another scene.
Russia’s state TV regularly amplifies the government line that says troops entered Ukraine to save people from “neo-Nazis” and to defend Russians from a country that was preparing to attack. The invasion of Ukraine is being characterised in Russia as a “special military operation”.
The woman in question is reportedly a former employee on Channel One. In a pre-recorded action, she said she was “ashamed” of her work for the state broadcaster and she fed ordinary Russians lies for years.
An independent human rights group that monitors political arrests identified the woman as Marina Ovsyannikova. The group, OVD-Info, posted on its website that Ovsyannikova, who identified herself as an employee of the station, was taken into police custody.
Her whereabouts are unclear. Human rights group have written on social media that she is being held and faces prosecution.
